Pumping water 370 feet, no power

Love2shoot

Love2shoot

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so I have a water source 375 feet from my water containers and about 30ft head. 500g. Right now I have 4 extension cords chained together powering a 1.5amp transfer pump and its working. Pumps water and fill my containers in about 3 hours but I'm not crazy about the cords.

I am wondering if you guys know of either a transfer pump solar setup I could run that I could even add a DC remote switch so I didnt have to go down there. Otherwise I am thinking a handheld gas powered trash pump but I'd rather not have to go down and wait everytime to pump water.
 
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Why not just put in conduit and wire it to the mains with a switch near where you discharge the water? Someone here can tell you if you need more than 12-3 wire. You could also just do that as a long extension cord that can be plugged in when you want, since it just plugs in I think you avoid issues of permits and codes. I guess it depends on what makes you uncomfortable about the extension cords.
 
JimB said:
Why not just put in conduit and wire it to the mains with a switch near where you discharge the water? Someone here can tell you if you need more than 12-3 wire. You could also just do that as a long extension cord that can be plugged in when you want, since it just plugs in I think you avoid issues of permits and codes. I guess it depends on what makes you uncomfortable about the extension cords.
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I would absolutely love that option. I was under the impression that daisy chaining cords together is a fire hazard, and its running through a grass field etc. If I could run a single wire in pvc inch tube or something and end it with a plug that I could plug in and out when needed at my house I would do that. But is that possible/safe?
 
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Just look into solar well pumps. You'll want to put in a small holding tank and shut off switch near the pump.
You run pipe to your holding tanks and plumb it in so that when the tanks are full the holding tank near the pump stays full and the pump stays switched off. Once you start using water the holding tank empties out and the pump starts working. Running a 400 ft lightning rod between your house, holding tanks and the pump is just asking to give mother nature an easy path for lightning.
If you get a low voltage switch you can either get creative with stealing some power off the pump to run it or put a small panel for it (get one that defaults closed). That way it'll only try opening during the day when there is power for the pump.

I've also seen people hook a waterwheel up to power a pump, but the solar power is prob going to be your easiest bet.
 
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myst173 said:
Just look into solar well pumps. You'll want to put in a small holding tank and shut off switch near the pump.
You run pipe to your holding tanks and plumb it in so that when the tanks are full the holding tank near the pump stays full and the pump stays switched off. Once you start using water the holding tank empties out and the pump starts working. Running a 400 ft lightning rod between your house, holding tanks and the pump is just asking to give mother nature an easy path for lightning.
If you get a low voltage switch you can either get creative with stealing some power off the pump to run it or put a small panel for it (get one that defaults closed). That way it'll only try opening during the day when there is power for the pump.

I've also seen people hook a waterwheel up to power a pump, but the solar power is prob going to be your easiest bet.
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Any idea what kind of setup I would need pump and panel wise etc? I have no idea about solar
 
To figure out what’s safe you need to get the amperage of the pump and the length of the run, there is a formula.

Doing this vs running extension cords really isn’t much different, you need the same gauge wire either way. Advantage to conduit is that you could bury it if you wanted.

It’s only a potential conductor for lightning when it’s plugged in, so I wouldn’t sweat that. I did have lightning run into my house on the electric fence for the dog, that wasn’t great.
 
JimB said:
To figure out what’s safe you need to get the amperage of the pump and the length of the run, there is a formula.

Doing this vs running extension cords really isn’t much different, you need the same gauge wire either way. Advantage to conduit is that you could bury it if you wanted.

It’s only a potential conductor for lightning when it’s plugged in, so I wouldn’t sweat that. I did have lightning run into my house on the electric fence for the dog, that wasn’t great.
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Thank you. I Google a calculator and I put 1.5amp for the pump at 375 feet and it said it would be 115volt at the end, is that acceptable?

So then if the load is a small pump like this IS it OK to just daisy chain cords together?
 
Love2shoot said:
Thank you. I Google a calculator and I put 1.5amp for the pump at 375 feet and it said it would be 115volt at the end, is that acceptable?

So then if the load is a small pump like this IS it OK to just daisy chain cords together?
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You need to determine the AWG for the wire needed. Input 115v and 375’ and it’ll tell you what size wire is safe. Unfortunately it looks like 8 gauge which is expensive.
http://wiresizecalculator.net/

Your extension cords are probably too small, do they get hot? If not I think the only problem is voltage drop, but if the pump is running then I wouldn’t sweat it.

I’m no expert on this stuff.
 
JimB said:
You need to determine the AWG for the wire needed. Input 115v and 375’ and it’ll tell you what size wire is safe. Unfortunately it looks like 8 gauge which is expensive.
http://wiresizecalculator.net/

Your extension cords are probably too small, do they get hot? If not I think the only problem is voltage drop, but if the pump is running then I wouldn’t sweat it.

I’m no expert on this stuff.
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I learned about that stuff pretty quickly.

I was using a regular Wally world drop cord (25ft, I think) to run the AC in my camper. I hadn't run it prior and was wanting to see how well it cooled. After about an hour, I decided to move the cord and was freaked out by how hot it was.

Researched a bit and purchased the appropriate cord for powering the camper pre excursion.
 
JimB said:
You need to determine the AWG for the wire needed. Input 115v and 375’ and it’ll tell you what size wire is safe. Unfortunately it looks like 8 gauge which is expensive.
http://wiresizecalculator.net/

Your extension cords are probably too small, do they get hot? If not I think the only problem is voltage drop, but if the pump is running then I wouldn’t sweat it.

I’m no expert on this stuff.
Click to expand...
#14 wire would work but I would use #12. The #8 is for basically 1% voltage drop which not necessary.
 
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